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Algeria’s disinformation battle

Algeria is a nation in flux - and it has become an information battleground.
In February this year, thousands came out onto the streets to protest against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decision to run for a fifth term in office. He eventually resigned, but the demonstrators have continued to press for change.
Protesters have been using social media to keep up the momentum, but a campaign of disinformation threatens to stop them in their tracks. A flurry of fake news stories has been spreading online, while pro-government trolls have tried to shape the online conversation.
Opposition figures have accused the regime of deploying such tactics - but what do we really know about this faceless online army? We delve into a world of online lies and rumours and meet the volunteers helping Algerians distinguish fact from fiction.
Presenter: Marco Silva
(Photo Caption: An Algerian protester shouts slogans during a demonstration in Algiers on 1 May / Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The hunt for red mercury

Some believe red mercury is a mystical elixir with magical healing powers that has survived from the time of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt.
Others fear that it is a dangerous nuclear material, which in the wrong hands could bring about the apocalypse.
However, red mercury doesn’t actually exist. So why is it being offered for sale on social media?
We go in search of the many amazing lives of this mysterious mythical material.
Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Sarah Myles
Producer: Ed Main
(Photo Caption: Illustration of a red splodge / Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Living with China’s social media censorship

How do Chinese social media users navigate government censorship?
Months of unrest in Hong Kong have caused concern in mainland China, where news about the pro-democracy protests has been carefully filtered out of social media.
It’s common for social media companies in China to remove content that is perceived to be threatening to social stability or the ruling Communist Party.
Beijing-based journalist and writer Karoline Kan delves into a world of forbidden words and state-sanctioned influencers.
Presenter: Marco Silva
(Photo Caption: Illustration of a man pulling the Chinese flag over another person’s mouth / Photo Credit: BBC)

We were promised a baby on Instagram

When it became clear Samantha couldn’t give birth to her own children, she and her husband decided to look on social media for pregnant women who wanted to give their babies up for adoption.
They got a message from a young woman, who said she was heavily pregnant and wanted them to adopt her child. The couple couldn’t believe their luck. But what followed was more than a month of emotional turmoil.
They had fallen prey to a scammer who had promised babies to lots of couples she found on Instagram.
We investigate the web of lies and deceit spun by the scammer and explore the emotional toll it took on dozens of hopeful parents.
Presenter: Reha Kansara
Reporter: Naomi Pallas
(Photo Caption: A composite of a family portrait without a child / Photo Credit: BBC)

Facebook’s market for illicit antiquities

War-torn countries are having their cultural heritage destroyed with antiquities being looted and sold to generate money. In some cases, the plunder may constitute a war crime.
Instability in countries like Syria means some people are taking desperate measures to survive, but some looters have connections to criminal gangs, the Syrian government and terrorist organisations.
How has this trade moved online and what is being done to prevent the destruction of cultural heritage?
We examine the scale of the looting, how traffickers use the features of platforms like Facebook to facilitate their illegal businesses, and how the western art world could help tackle the issue.
Presenter: Mike Wendling
Reporter: Sarah Myles
(Photo Caption: An April 2019 picture of the adorned arc at the 5th century basilica in Syria's Qalb Lozeh village in the north-western province of Idlib / Photo Credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)